Water Quality Rachel Pawson This presentation Scope of

Water Quality Rachel Pawson

This presentation • Scope of presentation • Higher order planning documents • Plan framework • Objectives and policies • Achieving the objectives • Matters of contention

Provisions in my evidence • Objectives O 23, O 24, O 25 and O 26 • Policies P 10, P 62, P 63, P 64, P 65, P 66, P 67 • Methods M 8, M 10, M 11, M 27 and M 28 • Definitions – aquatic ecosystem health and river class

Higher order planning documents • RMA – Part 2 – Section 30 – Section 70 and Section 9 and 15 • NPS-FM • NZCPS • RPS

RMA • RMA Part 2 – Safeguard life-supporting capacity of water and ecosystems – Protect significant indigenous biodiversity – Recognise and provide for the relationship of Māori with the environment – Kaitiakitanga – Maintain and improve the quality of the environment – Protection of the habitat of trout • Section 30

NZCPS • Objective 1 and Policy 21 • Coastal water quality is to be maintained, and enhanced where it has deteriorated from what would otherwise be its natural condition

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management • Implementation of the NPS-FM: – Progressive implementation programme – Requires regional councils to establish freshwater objectives and set limits

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management • Policy direction of the NPS-FM: – Objective A 1 - Safeguards life supporting capacity and the health of people – Objective A 2 - Maintain or improve water quality – Policy A 4 included in proposed Plan as Policy P 66 – Appendix 1 - Identifies national compulsory and non-compulsory values – Appendix 2 – includes attribute states for the compulsory values and national bottomlines • 2017 amendments to NPS-FM

Regional Policy Statement for the Wellington Region Most relevant objectives: • Objective 6 – quality of coastal waters. • Objective 12 – quantity and quality of fresh water • Objective 13 – ecosystems • Objective 26 – mauri • Objective 27 – mahinga kai and natural resources used for customary purposes

Regional Policy Statement for the Wellington Region Most relevant policies: • Policy 5 – Maintaining and improving coastal water quality for aquatic ecosystem health • Policy 12 – Management purposes for surface waterbodies • Policy 16 – Promoting discharges to land • Policy 19 – managing amenity, recreational and indigenous biodiversity values of rivers and lakes • Policy 49 – recognising and providing for matters of significance to tangata whenua

Proposed Plan framework for water quality

OBJECTIVES POLICIES RULES Objective 24 Māori relationsh ip policies A range of other objectives relate to the direction set in Objective O 24. Examples include: Objectives O 1 to O 7, O 11, O 14, O 15, O 16 and O 23 Recreation al values and public access policies Example s of other methods M 2, M 10, M 25, M 26 and M 27 Discharg es to water rules Objective O 23 Land water policies Discharg es to land rules A range of other objectives relate to the direction set in Objective O 23. Examples include: Objectives O 1 to O 7, O 24, O 25 and O 44 to O 51 Discharg es to land water policies Land use rules Land use policies Wetlan ds and beds of lakes and river rules Objective O 25 Beds of lakes and rivers and wetlands policies Coastal managem ent rules Example s of other methods M 6, M 8, M 9, M 10, M 13, M 15 and M 27 A range of other objectives relate to the direction set in Objective O 25. Examples include: Objectives O 1 to O 7, O 11, O 14, O 15, O 18, O 23, O 26, O 27 to O 30 and O 33 Māori relationsh ip policies Water allocati on rules Biodiversity, aquatic ecosystem health and mahinga kai policies Example s of other methods M 2, M 8, M 9, M 10, M 25 and M 26

Shared objectives • The values are coupled but they are not the same • Other provisions expression other aspects of the values

Objective O 23 – water quality

Objective O 24 Rivers, lakes, natural wetlands and coastal water are suitable for contact recreation and Māori customary use, including by: a) maintaining water quality, or b) improving water quality in: i. significant contact recreation fresh water bodies to meet, as a minimum, the primary contact recreation objectives in Table 3. 1, and ii. coastal water to meet, as a minimum, the primary contact recreation objectives in Table 3. 3, and iii. all other rivers and lakes and natural wetlands to meet, as a minimum, the secondary contact recreation objectives in Table 3. 2.

Māori customary use component of Objective O 24 • Management of Schedule B and C rivers or lakes that are used for Māori customary use to meet the primary contact recreation objectives • Provide better management within the proposed Plan for Māori customary use values • Additional work required

Contact recreation and Māori customary use policies • Policy P 10 – Contact recreation and Māori customary use • Policy P 63 – Improving water quality for contact recreation and Māori customary use

Objective O 25

Objective O 25 • Evolution of Objective O 25 – Meaningful integrated indicators of aquatic ecosystem health and mahinga kai • Use of narrative objectives • Purpose of Tables 3. 4 to 3. 8

O 25 (officers recommendation)

Objective O 26 The availability of mahinga kai species to support Māori customary harvest is increased, in quantity, quality and diversity.

Policies – land water policies • Policy P 62 – Promotes the discharges to land over direct discharges to water • Policy P 64 – Mixing waters are inappropriate except where there are no adverse effects on mana whenua values • Policy P 65 – Minimises adverse effects of nutrient discharges • Policy P 66 – Inserted as directed by Policy A 4 of the NPS-FM • Policy P 67 – Minimise adverse effects of discharges to land water through a hierarchy of actions • Relationship with Policy P 4 and Policy P 65 and P 67

Other Methods • M 8 – Te Awarua-o-Porirua restoration • M 10 – Water quality investigations and remediation actions • M 11 – Assessment and reporting of the Council in regards to integrated catchment management • M 27 – Improving water quality in priority water bodies • M 28 – development of good management practice guidelines (including definition)

Achieving Objectives O 23, O 24 and O 25 • Wellington region context – Water quality trends – Land use change and intensification • Additional provisions from operative plans – New and amended provisions – Stronger clearer policy direction

Achieving Objectives O 23, O 24 and O 25 • Rural land use activities – Uncollected animal effluent – Policy P 65 and Method M 12, including good management practice • Need for interim limits – The risk of acting vs not acting

Matters of contention • Management of the adverse effects associated with diffuse discharges, including the need to regulate uncollected animal effluent rather than rely on nonregulatory methods that encourage sustainable rural land management. • Inclusion of surface water bodies into Objective O 23 • The coupling of aquatic ecosystem health and mahinga kai and contact recreation and Māori customary use in shared objectives

Matters of contention • The primary contact recreation water quality objective in Table 3. 1; where to what rivers and lakes they should apply • The suitability of narrative objectives and the need for more numeric objectives in Tables 3. 1 to 3. 8 of Objectives O 24 and O 25 • The inclusion of additional attributes in Tables 3. 1, 3. 4 and 3. 5 of Objectives O 24 and O 25

Matters of contention • Table 3. 3 of Objective O 24 in relation to the Commercial Port Area and the appropriateness of shellfish gathering adjacent to stormwater outfalls • The need to provide an exemption for water supply network operations in Policy P 64 • Inclusion of qualifiers that reflect the limited practicalities of land disposal in Policy P 62 • The policy direction set by Policy P 67.